The present invention relates to the liquid-reservoir hairbrushes particularly well-designed for dispersing low viscosity water-based solutions and other thin and non-viscous liquids over the user""s scalp and through the hair.
Liquid-reservoir hairbrushes and combs have been available for years. In addition to combing and brushing, these devices allow a user to distribute water and oil-based solutions over the user""s scalp and/or through hair. In some of these devices, liquid outlets (viz., nozzles) are mounted at distal ends of teeth or bristles. In other devices, the nozzles are located near proximal ends of the teeth or bristles (usually between them) or at a body of the hair device. However, these prior art devices have a variety of shortcomings.
For example, if the user wants to disperse the liquid only over the scalp, and the nozzle(s) are located at a bristle area of the body of the brush (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 5,927,290 to Thiruppathi) or between the comb teeth (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,501 to Matchett), the liquid dispensed from the nozzle initially deposits on the user""s hair and wets the hair and only thereafter contacts the user""s scalp. This can makes the user""s hair excessively wet and uncomfortable. Even more, although the above hair devices allow the user to distribute water-based and other thin and non-viscous liquids through the hair, none of them disperse the liquid evenly. The main reason why the above devices are not able to disperse the liquids evenly through the hair is because it is extremely difficult to control a direct liquid flow through any type of nozzle.
Moreover, because a diameter of the nozzle is much smaller than a size of a liquid reservoir, different types of pumps are used to force the liquid flow through the nozzle. Accordingly, a person using this type of device has to adjust the liquid flow dispensed through the nozzle by operating different types of control mechanisms (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 3,721,250 to Walter and U.S. Pat. No. 5,927,290 to Thiruppathi). Since the user usually has to perform the above procedure during hair brushing or combing, the prior art liquid-reservoir hairbrushes and combs with pumps are relatively complicated to operate.
Furthermore, there are other problems associated with the dispersion of water-based solutions and other thin and non-viscous liquids over the user""s scalp for the devices with pumps. If the nozzles are mounted within the ends of the brush bristles or comb teeth (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 3,101,086 to Di Vito), it would appear to be troublesome to control the liquid flow through the nozzles. Since most of the above devices have open-end teeth or bristles, the liquid will come out from the nozzles whether or not there is a contact with the user""s scalp. Because all brush bristles or comb teeth cannot entirely contact the user""s scalp simultaneously, the excessive liquid disperses between the user""s hair and makes them wet. Others have attempted to devise ways to work around this problem. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,055,195 to Moses discloses a fluid-reservoir hair comb with roller balls mounted within the end of each comb tooth. Although the roller ball installed within the nozzle can partially control a high viscosity liquid flow of the oil-based solutions dispensed from the particular nozzle, the Moses construction is absolutely not acceptable for the low viscosity water-based solutions and other thin and non-viscous liquids. A well-known effect (previously described for ballpoint pens) of natural outflow of liquid through a gap between the roller ball and an internal wall of the roller ball seat, a so-called direct-flow phenomenon, in which air flows in through the gap to allow the liquid to flow out from the liquid reservoir, is liable to take place. Even more, there are another two potential problems for the users of the Moses device. First, the Moses reference notes that the roller ball installed within the nozzle of the comb tooth can release the liquid only upon moving contact of the roller ball with the user""s scalp. Since, the human head is curved, just a few comb teeth usually contact the user""s scalp with each pass of the comb through the person""s hair. Therefore, it is very likely that the user of the Moses device will not be able to evenly dispense a sufficient amount of the liquid over the scalp during routine hair combing. Second, because of the high viscosity of the oil-based solutions, the person using the Moses comb has to apply an additional abnormal pressure to the comb to be able move the roller balls inside of the nozzles while combing.
There are certain cases where a user will desire to distribute a liquid evenly through his or her hair, for example, for styling purposes. There may be other situations where a user would like to be able to disperse at the same time one liquid only over the scalp (e.g. a medicated solution), and another liquid evenly through the hair (e.g. a styling solution). None of the prior art devices allow the person to do either of these effectively. Accordingly, there is a need for a liquid-reservoir hair device that is capable of evenly dispersing water-based solutions and other thin and non-viscous liquids through the user""s hair and/or over the scalp during routine hair combing or brushing.
It is a first object of the invention to provide a liquid-reservoir hairbrush that is capable of dispersing water-based solutions and other thin and non-viscous liquids over the user""s scalp during routine hair combing or brushing.
The first object is achieved by locating at least one absorbent filler unit (viz., liquid absorbent) in a chamber of the hairbrush body and absorbent feed rods in bores of the hairbrush bristles. The hairbrush bristles are preferably mounted to a flexible base and the absorbent filler unit(s) are preferably made from a sufficiently spongy and/or springy material. The absorbent filler unit(s) are placed into the chamber of the hairbrush body and covered by the flexible base. Liquid outlets (viz., nozzles) are mounted at distal ends of the hairbrush bristles and have a roller ball liquid distribution mechanism, in which roller balls are rotatably mounted within each nozzle to disperse the liquid over the user""s scalp only during rolling contact of the roller ball with the user""s scalp. The absorbent feed rods interconnect the absorbent filler unit(s) and the roller balls, and the liquid from the absorbent filler unit(s) is supplied to the roller balls, by means of the liquid passing through the absorbent feed rods to feed a surface of each roller ball. When the user brushes his or her hair, the hairbrush bristles push on the flexible base and pressurize the absorbent filler unit(s). This pressure helps to move the liquid from the absorbent filler unit(s) down to the absorbent feed rods. The hairbrush body can have an absorbent filler divider which separates the chamber of the hairbrush body into multiple, hermetically isolated sections, and multiple absorbent filler units can be placed into these sections. A purpose of the separation is to keep the hairbrush in an overall workable condition, even if some of the nozzles and/or the hairbrush bristles leak and the liquid starts to drain or vaporize from the absorbent filler unit(s). The hairbrush can be provided with a removable bristle lid to keep the hairbrush bristles enclosed when the hairbrush is not in use, and to prevent the roller balls from drying out. A body of the hairbrush will preferably have a filler inlet, so that the user can refill the absorbent filler unit(s) with the liquid with or without an optional liquid refilling unit which can hold a predetermine volume of the liquid.
It is another object of the invention to provide a hairbrush with an alternative type of bristles, wherein instead of having the roller balls mounted at the distal ends of the hairbrush bristles, a portion of an absorbent feed rod extends outwardly beyond a distal end of the hairbrush bristle to be able to contact with the user""s scalp during brushing. Liquid from the absorbent feed rods will disperse over the user""s scalp upon contact of the distal ends of the absorbent feed rods with the scalp during brushing. This type of construction may provide a softer feeling brush for the users with a sensitive scalp.
It is further object of the invention to provide a hairbrush with bristles having side nozzles at sidewalls of the bristles. The absorbent feed rods extend outwardly beyond the sidewalls of the bristles and can contact the user""s hair during brushing. The above type of construction of the hairbrush bristles can be very useful to evenly disperse different type of liquids through the user""s hair during brushing.